Articles by "Tina Guo"
Tina Guo Releases New Video for Cover of "Pokemon Theme"
Tina Guo has released a new video for a covered version of the Pokemon theme, in her own unique melody style. Check it out right HERE.
Tina Guo and William Anderson Bring My Little Pony to Our World
My Little Pony has been around for quite some time, since
it's reboot in 2010 with the fourth generation entitled My Little Pony
Friendship Is Magic, the whole series would change the world and it has, as a
matter of fact, it's become such a success that it's music being infamously
popular amongst all, did so much in its 100th episode of the TV series. In this
episode it brought composer William Anderson as well as cellist Tina Guo, to
work together on a scene piece where it brought together some of many popular
background characters known as DJ-Pon3 or "Vinyl Scratch" to the fan
base a DJ pony and Octavia Melody a cellist pony, as the pair crafted a song
that would keep the beats pulsing! Tina Guo herself as well as William
Anderson, got together while attending the third year run of Equestria LA, one
of many, many My Little Pony conventions to discuss their time at this get
together, as well as their time on the show and plans for the future.
1. This is your first time at a My Little Pony convention?
Tina: Yes, this is my very first My Little Pony convention.
It's been a lot of fun, I played the pony named Octavia, the cello playing
that's me, I was invited to come here and perform the piece I played on in
episode 100 of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. Where there was a big music
video scene, where DI-Pon3 and Octavia did a crazy dubstep/classical
duet/compilation. So William Anderson and I performed it last night at the
opening of Club Luna, a concert/rave event held during Equestria LA. It was a
lot of fun.
2. What did you think of My Little Pony, when you got
contacted about it, were you like "What? My Little Pony"?
Tina: No, no, no, My Little Pony is adorable. I mean, I
never really watched the show, because I really never watch any shows because I
don't have cable. But I do a lot of recording's for different TV shows, movies,
video games, music, etc. So it was just like another job for me, William
Anderson the composer, had contacted me and said to me through my website in a
random email "Hi I'm William I compose music for the TV show My Little
Pony Friendship Is Magic, do you want to play on the show?" I said
"yeah sure". But I had no idea that this show had such a huge what do
you call it, fandom? Following? for this show, that's like any other that I've
actually experienced. It's been crazy, in a good way not a bad way. I hope I
can do more conventions, William and I were talking and we'll see because we're
not in charge of the actual show, but would like to do more, perhaps more opportunities
with Octavia in the future, she is more of a secondary character, so for her to
have more scenes and plays more stuff that way it could be more fun and a lot
of fun.
Tina: Yeah, yeah definitely, I don't know if I knew, I did
know of My Little Pony of course everybody does ya know? But I don't know I was
aware of Octavia, I didn't know she was a cello playing pony, that's awesome! I
am a big fan of her now.
4. What do you think of the fandom and the people dressing
up, did it seem awkward or were you cool with it?
Tina: I loved it. For me, I wish everyday was Halloween,
dress-up not necessarily in My Little Pony stuff but I did last night a little
bit as Octavia. But just in general I think it's great I have been to the San
Diego Comic Con, a few times and have also been to a few of the Wizard World
Comic Cons, so I have definitely seen about the same thing. Ya know about the
same general aspect of getting dressed up, when going to conventions. So I have
been in that scene before, so I didn't think of it as weird. Then again, I
don't think anything is weird. Weird is good.
5. You have done meet and greets, autographs throughout this
convention, what was it like meeting the fans, having them come up and say
stuff like "Hey you're the pony that does that thing".
Tina: Let's see so we did autograph sessions which is kind
of like a meet and greet where you can hang out and talk a little bit. I didn't
know what to expect, I was surprised to have people even wanting to meet me,
because I am very new to this world. I've only really been just on one episode,
so I didn't even do anything ya know? But a lot of people, that I have met in
the meet and greets, we just talked about music and the other stuff that I have
done. I actually then took the meet and greet into the vendor hall, for selfish
reasons, because I wanted to go shopping, so we went, walked around and talked,
as we were looking around at everything. I got a little bit of Octavia and
DJ-Pon3 related items like prints and posters, a necklace, so I am all into it
now.
6. As you previously mentioned, you are willing to come back
to do more My Little Pony conventions, and be a part of the show again?
Tina: Yeah definitely I think it would be a lot of fun. I
was talking to William about the show because there aren't any other pieces for
Octavia to play along with DJ-Pon3, but were talking about taking the main
theme song, then adding in some cello elements to it. I think you can add cello
to anything, or we can take one of the songs, doing an arrangement or something
like that. So we will see if there will be more opportunities to do that
because it would be great.
7. What do you think of My Little Pony, when you first got
contacted for it?
William: It was 5 years ago, when it started and I've been
doing animation a long time. So it was just another show for me, I was glad to
have work and still glad that I do. I didn't have any idea it would turn out
like it has. I didn't even know until like the end of the second season, and I
love how it's become so successful, and it's community, the fans, are always so
positive, upbeat, and I just like it.
8. Is this your first convention or have you been to other
My Little Pony conventions before?
William: This is my third, I don't go to many, I had gone to
the Everfree one a couple of years ago, like two or three years ago, then this
one a couple of years ago.
9. What are your thoughts on the fandom in general, do you
like it, or is it weird to you?
William: Everything is a little bit weird, weird is a good
thing.
10. What do the two of you have planned for the rest of this
year, leading right into next year?
William: Well, Tina is going to continue her global conquest
in everything. I am just going to be working, My Little Pony takes a lot of my
time. So I am always very busy, I was working since 6AM this morning.
Tina: Yeah he was already up, working on a Christmas
episode.
William: Yeah the holiday episode, it is so good! So, so, so
good!
11. Thank for all so much and good luck in the future.
Tina: Thank you so much.
William: Thank you.
Tina Guo Fuses Classical with Metal
Cellist artist Tina Guo has taken her exceptional talent to a whole another level by taking on the metal music genre with her classical aspect to create a head banger's ball of tunes. Many various artists appear on "Cello Metal" to help her create the uniqueness and creativity that can only be Tina Guo. In fact, Tina Guo herself discusses her take on the metal genre and insight into her musical background and future plans.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do as Tina Guo?
Tina: Hi! I'm a musician- I compose, and play acoustic and electric cello.
2. How would you categorize the style of the music that you play?Tina: I play a lot of different styles but classical and industrial metal are my specialties. :)
3. Who or what inspired you to become a musician, what is your musical background?
Tina: My parents are both music teachers and I was roped into the family trade. :D
4. What are your songs about? What specific themes do they cover?
Tina: I've written a lot of songs about love- longing for it, breakups, the usual. On my latest album, Cello Metal, the original songs are inspired by spirituality and power.
5. Do you write your own songs? Discuss the songwriting process in detail.
Tina: Yes, I write my own songs and also collaborate with others. Many of my more classical/new age compositions are written in a stream of consciousness way where I just push record and start playing. For the 'Cello Metal' album, I collaborated with my friend and producer Frank Klepacki on three of the songs and we actually did everything remotely, I sent files to him, he would add things and send it back to me, we went back and forth and that was the songwriting process for those.
6. What is your latest album and why should people buy it?
Tina: My latest release Cello Metal is an album I've wanted to do for the past 10 years, it's my first full length industrial metal album and I would love for people to hear it! If you love metal, instrumental music, industrial music, or cellos, I think it may be interesting.
7. You’re known for your talent as a classical artist but have switched gears to take on the metal genre, why go from classical to metal, let alone combing the two together?
Tina: I've been playing classical and metal for over a decade, touring with other artists and recording on a lot of projects but this is my first full length album in the Metal genre. I have 7 other albums out in classical/cinematic genres.
8. Do you have any favorite metal musicians, that you have taken a liking to the most?
Tina: My favorite bands are Rammstein and Metallica, as well as Apocalyptica of course because they're the original cello metal pioneers!
9. Why did you pick out the metal acts that you did for "Cello Metal"?
Tina: I went through the classic metal songs and just picked ones that I really loved and would make sense somewhat without vocals or lyrics!
10. Will we be seeing another metal style release just like this one in the future or was this release a one-time effort?
Tina: I hope to do more metal style albums in the future, my next album is called Hollywood's Greatest Themes which will feature my covers of well-known TV and Movie themes including Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, Game of Thrones, and more. I love cinematic music because there is no limit on genre and it really encompasses every style.
11. What's the story behind Queen Bee, and why did it win an award for being the Best Short Film/Music Video at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival?Tina: Queen Bee was my first music video, I don't know why it won the award but you should check it out on YouTube! It's still my favorite video I've done so far. <3 nbsp="" p="">
12. You have appeared in film, TV and video games, how were you able to get the chance at those opportunities and will we be seeing more of them?
13. What are your current show/tour plans, if any?
Tina: Coming up, I'm performing at the Fortune Global Forum as well as concerts with Nathan Pacheco, an amazing classical crossover singer in Miami with a full symphony. I'm excited about January when I'll be playing the Saint-Saens Concerto and Haydn Concerto in Texas and Northern California, and touring with Joe Bonamassa including 2 concerts at Carnegie Hall that will air on PBS. I'm also going to be touring with Hans Zimmer in his live concert series- we're currently recording and writing for 2 movie projects, and I'm typing this from Warner Brothers during a break!
14. Can you describe your live performance for those who have never seen you live?
Tina: Depends on the music I'm playing but there are lots of live videos on my YouTube page.
15. What one item do you have to have with you out on the road that you can't live without?
Tina: Good hair conditioner.
16. Do you have a favorite song you like to play live?
Tina: Flight of the Bumble Bee is always fun and seems to get a good reaction from the audience, no matter what genre/style I play it in.
17. What's your favorite city/venue to play in the world?
Tina: I played once in a medieval church in Nantes (France) with fantastic natural reverb- I love reverb!
18. Tell us about your thought on your local music scene?
Tina: I'm actually not that involved in the local scene in LA because I'm constantly traveling for shows elsewhere- I did recently do my record release show at Bar Sinister which was great and the venue reached maximum capacity- I love that place! I also jammed at Ultimate Jam Night at Lucky Strike Live which was really fun!
19. Are there any new and upcoming bands that you are into?
Tina: I recently met my bass player's girlfriend Kokoro, and I watched some of her music videos which are amazing!
20. Why do you think people are into your music?
Tina: Insanity? Boredom?
21. What does the next year hold for you as far as plans?
Tina: Lots of recordings and finishing my TV/Movie Theme album, and starting my next album which will be music from Video Games- also a lot of touring and live performance.
22. Where can our readers find your band on the internet?Tina: At the following websites;
www.TinaGuo.com
https://www.YouTube.com/user/demix500
www.Facebook.com/TinaGuoMusic
www.Instagram.com/TinaGuoCello
www.Twitter.com/TinaGuo
23. How has Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) impacted your band?
Tina: I love social networking and doing it all personally- it's my main outlet!
24. Do you have any last comments or words of advice for aspiring musicians and people trying to get into the business?
Tina: Be kind and nice to everyone! Stay humble, work hard (I remind myself that whenever I'm not working/practicing, someone else is) and try to be communicative and easy-going. Be organized and have a healthy sense of self-worth, but flexible.
25. Is that your final answer?
Tina: Thank you! xo